page_title: Warhammer 40,000
section_title: The Imperium of Man
hierarchical_section_title: Warhammer 40,000 / Factions / The Imperium of Man
caption_attribution_description: English: A miniature model of a Space Marine, for the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.
context_page_description: Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world. It is most popular in Britain. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the ninth edition was released in July 2020.
  As in other miniature wargames, players enact battles using miniature models of warriors and fighting vehicles. The playing area is a tabletop model of a battlefield, comprising models of buildings, hills, trees, and other terrain features. Players take turns to move their model warriors around the battlefield and pretend that they are fighting their opponent's warriors. These imaginary fights are resolved using dice and simple arithmetic.
  Warhammer 40,000 is set in the distant future, where a stagnant human civilisation is beset by hostile aliens and malevolent supernatural creatures. The models in the game are a mixture of humans, aliens, and supernatural monsters, wielding futuristic weaponry and magical powers.
  Warhammer 40,000 has spawned a number of spin-off tabletop games.
context_section_description: The Imperium of Man is an authoritarian human empire that comprises about a million worlds and has existed for over 10,000 years. The Imperium is a highly religious society, centred on the worship of the God-Emperor of Man, who was the Imperium's founder and is still its nominal ruler. Anyone who does not worship the Emperor properly is liable to be persecuted for heresy; this is a major theme of the setting. Although the Imperium has highly advanced technology, the Imperium has long ceased practising science and its technologies have not improved for thousands of years. Imperial citizens are taught to obey authority without question, to worship the Emperor, to hate and fear aliens, and to be incurious about anything that does not concern their duties.
  Of all the factions, the Imperium has the largest catalogue of models, which gives Imperium players great flexibility in designing their army. The most popular sub-faction of the Imperium are the Space Marines, who appear more frequently than any other characters in Warhammer 40,000 art and fiction.
caption: A painted polystyrene model of a Space Marine.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "(Strobist info: Canon Speedlight 580EX II and Westcott 43\" shoot-through umbrella immediately left of frame, triggered by Cactus V6. Cardboard wrapped in aluminium foil right of subject as a reflector).", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark IV", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.10.12", "Image DateTime": "2020:07:28 16:54:40", "Image ExifOffset": "404", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "256", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "226", "Thumbnail BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail PhotometricInterpretation": "6", "Thumbnail SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1288", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8908", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "13", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:04:15 21:03:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:04:15 21:03:46", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "915241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7400879/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "135", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "61166933/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "115055001017", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[135, 135, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF135mm f/2L USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000000000"}